Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 14-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being antedated by United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2018/0272886 A1 (Stöcker et al.).
As Per Claim 14: Stöcker et al. teaches: A method for authorizing a first participant in a communication network, via which a plurality of participants communicate, wherein a respective identification information is associated with each of the participants, comprising:
- transmitting the identification information of the first participant to a second participant in the communication network, which is or comprises a processing device,
- checking, by the processing device, whether authorization data associated with the identification information is present in a data structure,
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0032], “Preferably, before generating a supply medium exchange release message, by means of the peer-to-peer application and at least by some of the nodes of the peer-to-peer network, the at least one received identification of a request message can be checked. Preferably, all identifications of all entities of the peer-to-peer network are stored and registered, respectively, in the peer-to-peer application and/or in a database or decentral file system (such as IPFS) controlled by the peer-to-peer application, such as by a smart contract of the peer-to-peer application. Then, the at least one identification of a request message can be compared with the registered identifications. Only in the case the at least one, preferably the identification of the mobile unit and the identification supply medium exchange station are valid identifications, i.e. correspond to registered identifications, the supply medium exchange release message can be generated by the peer-to-peer application. A decentral and trustful authorization process can be provided by means of the peer-to-peer application without the need of a central server or the like.”.).
- wherein the data structure used is replicated on a plurality of processing device communicating as participants via the communication network, and
- which comprises a plurality of data blocks which are ordered in a sequence and are linked to one another in such a way that the content of a respective subsequent data block depends on the content of at least one preceding data block,
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0032], “Preferably, before generating a supply medium exchange release message, by means of the peer-to-peer application and at least by some of the nodes of the peer-to-peer network, the at least one received identification of a request message can be checked. Preferably, all identifications of all entities of the peer-to-peer network are stored and registered, respectively, in the peer-to-peer application and/or in a database or decentral file system (such as IPFS) controlled by the peer-to-peer application, such as by a smart contract of the peer-to-peer application. Then, the at least one identification of a request message can be compared with the registered identifications. Only in the case the at least one, preferably the identification of the mobile unit and the identification supply medium exchange station are valid identifications, i.e. correspond to registered identifications, the supply medium exchange release message can be generated by the peer-to-peer application. A decentral and trustful authorization process can be provided by means of the peer-to-peer application without the need of a central server or the like.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0048], “In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present system, the peer-to-peer application can be a block chain or decentral ledger comprising at least two blocks coupled to each other. The block chain technology or “decentral ledger technology” is already used in the payment by means of a crypto currency, such as Bitcoin. It has been recognized that by a particular configuration of a block chain, at least the correctness of a supply medium exchange release message can be checked without the need of a central server. In addition, the block chain can be used to generate a supply medium exchange release message caused by at least the first peer-to-peer module in a tamper-proof manner. The block chain according to the present embodiment is particularly a decentralized, peer-to-peer-based register in which all data related to an exchange of a supply medium between a mobile unit and a supply medium exchange station and other messages sent be peer-to-peer modules can be logged. A block chain is particularly suitable as a technical means to replace a central entity/server in a simple and secure manner.”.).
- enabling a function of the second participant exclusively upon fulfillment of an authorization condition evaluating the authorization data, which condition can only be fulfilled if authorization data associated with the identification information are present.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0032], “Preferably, before generating a supply medium exchange release message, by means of the peer-to-peer application and at least by some of the nodes of the peer-to-peer network, the at least one received identification of a request message can be checked. Preferably, all identifications of all entities of the peer-to-peer network are stored and registered, respectively, in the peer-to-peer application and/or in a database or decentral file system (such as IPFS) controlled by the peer-to-peer application, such as by a smart contract of the peer-to-peer application. Then, the at least one identification of a request message can be compared with the registered identifications. Only in the case the at least one, preferably the identification of the mobile unit and the identification supply medium exchange station are valid identifications, i.e. correspond to registered identifications, the supply medium exchange release message can be generated by the peer-to-peer application. A decentral and trustful authorization process can be provided by means of the peer-to-peer application without the need of a central server or the like.”.).
As Per Claim 15: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the authorization data are created or changed in the data structure by a processing device which is a participant or part of a participant, by adding an additional data block to the data structure which depends on at least one of the existing data blocks of the data structure.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0149], “The block chain 746 is formed by at least one block 770 to 772, preferably by a plurality of interconnected blocks 770 to 772. The first block 770 may also be called genesis block 770. As can be seen, a block 771, 772 (except for the first block 770) refers to each previous block 770, 771. A new block can be created by a computationally intensive process (for example, so called “mining” or through another appropriate process) and will be particularly provided to all participants of the peer-to-peer network.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0160], “Preferably, at least the above described messages, such as the agreements and other messages, can be hashed together in pairs in a block of the block chain by a Merkle tree. In particular, only the last hash value, the so-called root hash, is noted as a checksum in the header of a block. Then, the block can be coupled with the previous block. Chaining of the blocks can be performed using this root hashes. Each block can include the hash of the entire previous block header in its header. This makes it possible to clearly define the order of the blocks. In addition, this may also prevent the subsequent modification of previous blocks and the messages stored in the previous blocks, since, in particular, the hashes of all subsequent blocks would have to be recalculated in a short time.”.).
As Per Claim 16: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the authorization data comprise the identification information of the participant which triggered the or a creation and/or change of the authorization data, and/or a signature linked to the identification information, wherein the fulfillment of the authorization condition depends on the identification information and/or the signature.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 17: The rejection of claim 16 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the authorization condition is fulfilled or can be fulfilled only if permission data associated with the identification information and/or the signature are present in the data structure, which permission data indicate a permission of the participant creating and/or changing the authorization data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 18: The rejection of claim 17 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the permission data are created and/or changed in the data structure by a processing device which is a participant or part of a participant, by adding an additional data block to the data structure which depends on at least one of the existing data blocks of the data structure.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0156], “In addition, the supply medium exchange transaction agreement 773 can comprise a previously described quantity specification. It shall be understood that other transaction criteria can be defined. Further, more information can be, for example, a time stamp, a signature of the sender of the message, a message ID of the transaction and other criteria.”.).
As Per Claim 19: The rejection of claim 17 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the creation and/or change of the authorization data is automated by a program executed by a processing device of at least one participant, which is stored in particular in the data structure.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0007], “Technically speaking, a corresponding supply medium exchange system is realized according to prior art by a client-server structure. The central organization or instance is created by one or a plurality of central servers. A server of this kind or a platform can be distributed and located on different computing devices, for example. This means that a virtual server can be realized by a cloud. For example, a centrally arranged database can be provided.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0066], “According to the present invention, a man-in-the-middle is not necessary. Fully automated processes from authentication to charging and billing can be provided.”.).
As Per Claim 20: The rejection of claim 19 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the or a creation and/or change of the authorization data depends on voting data which are provided by a plurality of participants to the processing device executing the program, in particular as part of the data structure.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0034], “Prior to the registration of a mobile unit and/or supply medium exchange station, at least part of the peers of the peer-to-peer network may check whether the registering requirements predefined by the peer-to-peer network are met by the mobile unit and/or the supply medium exchange station. In order to perform the check, preferably, further data may be included in the registering message. In particular, the peers of the peer-to-peer network may provide registering rules or registering requirements which must be fulfilled by an entity to be regarded as a trustful entity. By way of example, each entity to be registered must comprise an account and/or a particular amount of a cryptocurrency. Other rules/requirements may be individually defined by the peers of a peer-to-peer network. E.g. it may be necessary that a new entity must be recommended by an entity which is already a participant of the peer-to-peer network. In addition, it may be necessary that this participant must have a reputation factor which increases a predefined minimum reputation factor.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0055], “According to a preferred embodiment, the peer-to-peer application may comprise a reputation store and/or may be configured to access a reputation store. The reputation store comprises at least the peer-to-peer identification of at least one of a registered mobile unit and/or supply medium charging station together with a reputation factor assigned to the respective mobile unit and/or supply medium charging station. The peer-to-peer application may be configured to update the at least one reputation factor based on a validation result, preferably a plurality of validation results. For instance, meter data of an exchange process can be analyzed by the peer-to-peer network and used for updating reputation factors. For instance, if the meter data are correct, a reputation factor can be increased while a reputation factor can be reduced if the meter data do not correspond to the actual exchanged amount of supply medium. In addition, further information, such as feedback data about the satisfaction of the entities involved in a supply medium exchange process, can be provided by at least one peer-to-peer module to the peer-to-peer application. Also this data can be used for adapting reputation factors.”.).
As Per Claim 21: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 22: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- a motor vehicle is used as the first participant and an infrastructure device is used as the second participant, or vice versa.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0004], “All supply medium exchange systems are characterized in the present application in that at least one supply medium is transferred and exchanged, respectively, between a stationary entity and station, respectively, and a mobile entity and unit, respectively. It shall be understood that a supply medium can flow in both directions. Examples of mobile units are all vehicles, such as cars, trucks, ships, railway vehicles, planes, bicycles, drones, mobile machines, etc. Common to all mobile units of the present invention are that each mobile unit comprises at least one supply medium storage configured to store a supply medium. Examples of supply medium storages are electrical batteries, fuel cells, gas tanks, biomass storage and fuel tanks e.g. for liquid or solid fuels. The supply medium can in particular be consumed by the mobile unit in order to operate at least one function of the mobile unit. For instance, the supply medium can be consumed by a motor configured to move or drive the mobile unit.”.).
As Per Claim 23: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- a motor vehicle is used as the first participant and a charging device for charging an energy storage device of the motor vehicle is used as the second participant, or vice versa, wherein the function of the second participant is necessary for the charging of the energy storage device by the charging device.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0004], “All supply medium exchange systems are characterized in the present application in that at least one supply medium is transferred and exchanged, respectively, between a stationary entity and station, respectively, and a mobile entity and unit, respectively. It shall be understood that a supply medium can flow in both directions. Examples of mobile units are all vehicles, such as cars, trucks, ships, railway vehicles, planes, bicycles, drones, mobile machines, etc. Common to all mobile units of the present invention are that each mobile unit comprises at least one supply medium storage configured to store a supply medium. Examples of supply medium storages are electrical batteries, fuel cells, gas tanks, biomass storage and fuel tanks e.g. for liquid or solid fuels. The supply medium can in particular be consumed by the mobile unit in order to operate at least one function of the mobile unit. For instance, the supply medium can be consumed by a motor configured to move or drive the mobile unit.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0010], “As can be seen from FIG. 1 the mobile unit 104 is a vehicle 104, such as a car 104, having a battery 106 to be charged. The vehicle comprises a charging controller 150 for controlling charging of the battery 106. In order to charge the vehicle 104 and battery 106, respectively, a supply medium transmission connection 108 in form of a charging cable 108 may provide an electrical connection between a supply medium exchange interface in form of a charging interface 110 of the vehicle 104 and a further supply medium exchange interface in form of a further charging interface 114 of a supply medium exchange station 102, such as a charging station 102.”.).
As Per Claim 24: The rejection of claim 14 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- A processing device, wherein the processing device is designed to participate in the method according to claim 14 as a participant or as part of a participant.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0004], “All supply medium exchange systems are characterized in the present application in that at least one supply medium is transferred and exchanged, respectively, between a stationary entity and station, respectively, and a mobile entity and unit, respectively. It shall be understood that a supply medium can flow in both directions. Examples of mobile units are all vehicles, such as cars, trucks, ships, railway vehicles, planes, bicycles, drones, mobile machines, etc. Common to all mobile units of the present invention are that each mobile unit comprises at least one supply medium storage configured to store a supply medium. Examples of supply medium storages are electrical batteries, fuel cells, gas tanks, biomass storage and fuel tanks e.g. for liquid or solid fuels. The supply medium can in particular be consumed by the mobile unit in order to operate at least one function of the mobile unit. For instance, the supply medium can be consumed by a motor configured to move or drive the mobile unit.”.).
As Per Claim 25: The rejection of claim 24 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- A motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle comprises a processing device according to claim 24.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0004], “All supply medium exchange systems are characterized in the present application in that at least one supply medium is transferred and exchanged, respectively, between a stationary entity and station, respectively, and a mobile entity and unit, respectively. It shall be understood that a supply medium can flow in both directions. Examples of mobile units are all vehicles, such as cars, trucks, ships, railway vehicles, planes, bicycles, drones, mobile machines, etc. Common to all mobile units of the present invention are that each mobile unit comprises at least one supply medium storage configured to store a supply medium. Examples of supply medium storages are electrical batteries, fuel cells, gas tanks, biomass storage and fuel tanks e.g. for liquid or solid fuels. The supply medium can in particular be consumed by the mobile unit in order to operate at least one function of the mobile unit. For instance, the supply medium can be consumed by a motor configured to move or drive the mobile unit.”.).
As Per Claim 26: The rejection of claim 24 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- An infrastructure device, in particular a charging device, wherein the infrastructure device comprises a processing device according to claim 24.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0004], “All supply medium exchange systems are characterized in the present application in that at least one supply medium is transferred and exchanged, respectively, between a stationary entity and station, respectively, and a mobile entity and unit, respectively. It shall be understood that a supply medium can flow in both directions. Examples of mobile units are all vehicles, such as cars, trucks, ships, railway vehicles, planes, bicycles, drones, mobile machines, etc. Common to all mobile units of the present invention are that each mobile unit comprises at least one supply medium storage configured to store a supply medium. Examples of supply medium storages are electrical batteries, fuel cells, gas tanks, biomass storage and fuel tanks e.g. for liquid or solid fuels. The supply medium can in particular be consumed by the mobile unit in order to operate at least one function of the mobile unit. For instance, the supply medium can be consumed by a motor configured to move or drive the mobile unit.”.).
As Per Claim 27: The rejection of claim 15 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the authorization data comprise the identification information of the participant which triggered the or a creation and/or change of the authorization data, and/or a signature linked to the identification information, wherein the fulfillment of the authorization condition depends on the identification information and/or the signature.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 28: The rejection of claim 18 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- the creation and/or change of the authorization data is automated by a program executed by a processing device of at least one participant, which is stored in particular in the data structure.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0007], “Technically speaking, a corresponding supply medium exchange system is realized according to prior art by a client-server structure. The central organization or instance is created by one or a plurality of central servers. A server of this kind or a platform can be distributed and located on different computing devices, for example. This means that a virtual server can be realized by a cloud. For example, a centrally arranged database can be provided.”.).
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0066], “According to the present invention, a man-in-the-middle is not necessary. Fully automated processes from authentication to charging and billing can be provided.”.).
As Per Claim 29: The rejection of claim 15 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 30: The rejection of claim 16 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 31: The rejection of claim 17 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 32: The rejection of claim 18 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
As Per Claim 33: The rejection of claim 19 is incorporated and further Stöcker et al. teaches:
- at least some of the data stored in the data structure cannot be read at all or cannot be read in plain text by some of the participants, in particular by encrypting this data.
(Stöcker et al., Paragraph [0046], “In order to store new information in a tamper-proof way, the peer-to-peer application can comprise encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means, wherein at least one of the encryption means and/or signature means and/or verification means is configured to store at least supply medium exchange release message. In particular, it can be provided that by the hash function a link is established with at least one previously stored information in the decentral register. Further data, such as request messages, ordinary, contextual and/or transaction data of an entity, such as a mobile unit or supply medium exchange station, can be stored.”.).
Additional Prior Art
United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2018/0354382 A1 (SCHLAUDRAFF) and United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2019/0349433 (Smith et al.) in analogous art provide teachings relevant to the field of endeavor SCHLAUDRAFF reflecting the particular vehicle operation and providing more on blockchain usage.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN A KAPLAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2434
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